In what is likely the opening shot in a looming battle between Congress and the Army, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., has introduced a bill that would freeze the Army’s plans to transfer all of the National Guard’s AH-64 Apache helicopters to the active-duty force and prevent most of the proposed Guard personnel cuts.

Business:

The U.S. government is making “great strides” in its drive to reform unwieldy export rules, and expects to unveil proposed changes covering exports of satellites, electronics and chemicals this year, a senior White House official said Feb. 4.

Lockheed Martin Feb. 3 launched the civil variant of its C-130J Super Hercules military transport plane, the LM-100J, saying it expected to sell about 75 of the planes to mining and energy companies, and other commercial and government customers in coming years.

Last week, Linda Hudson didn’t sound like she was one day away from retirement. Instead, speaking at a Northern Virginia Technology Council event, the outgoing BAE Systems chief executive was concerned as ever about the future of the defense industry. She called on aerospace and defense companies to create a work environment that appeals to talented science, technology, engineering and math — or STEM — students.

Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., an Alabama unit of the aerospace major Teledyne with operations in North America and Europe, will design and build the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter for NASA’s space launch system in a five-year $60 million dollar deal.

Veterans:

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vermont independent, said Feb. 4 a comprehensive veteran’s reform bill could be brought up on the Senate floor as early as Feb. 6. The bill will undo the cost-of-living adjustment cuts included in the 2013 budget agreement and will also make changes in several areas ranging from health care to Veterans Affairs efficiency to education to unemployment.

The Veterans Affairs Department doesn’t have solid controls over its own financial reporting or computer data, leading to the possibility that the agency could leak information or mistake just how much it is spending, an investigation found.

A bill that would require schools to ease in-state tuition rules for veterans — or lose eligibility for the Post-9/11 GI Bill entirely — sailed through the House Feb. 3, with support from a broad, bipartisan majority of lawmakers.

The federal government’s move to cut its backlog of overdue compensation claims for veterans has stalled and better efforts must be made to understand what isn’t working to solve the problem, a veterans group says.

One told the story of a relationship between a puppy and the Anheuser-Busch signature Clydesdales. The other, however, looked at a celebration for an American veteran, returning home from battle. The ad, according to several veterans, tried to walk a delicate line between celebrating and pandering.

The mysterious properties of asteroids have long confounded astronomers, despite the billions spent in research. Scientists believe they the materials deep within an asteroid’s core could help unlock the secrets to how planets, like Earth, form.

America is heading back to the moon – only this time, private firms will be footing the bill. NASA has called for partners interested in developing low cost lunar missions, which could see the lunar surface being mined.

NASA has found a unique planet which wobbles on its axis – causing weather conditions to be even more erratic than those on Earth. Astronomers were stunned to find the planet, designated Kepler-413b wobbles wildly on its spin axis, much like a child’s top.

Technology:

Called the Vanishing Programmable Resources, DARPA announced the program on Jan. 28 issuing a $3.5 million award to IBM to study the possibilities of developing “strained glass substrates” that would crumble into powder on command, according to the DARPA announcement.

International:

Britain partially lifted the veil of secrecy surrounding its Taranis unmanned combat aerial vehicle program Feb. 5 by confirming a first flight last year and releasing pictures in flight of the demonstrator.

Negotiations over the multibillion dollar deal to sell 126 Dassault Rafale jets to India have stalled, according to Indian Defence Ministry sources, who say the sticking point involves issues governing license-production of the jets at state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

After South Korea overturned its procurement agency’s choice of the Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle as its air force’s next new fighter in September, and announced that it would buy the Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, Lockheed Martin and sources close to the company were not shy about predicting an Asian sweep for JSF. Japan had already chosen the new U.S. fighter over the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Eurofighter Typhoon (the latter was also passed over by South Korea), and Singapore was expected to follow suit imminently.

Two years after Japan agreed to buy F-35 joint strike fighters to replace its 1960s-era F-4EJ Kai Phantoms, the government has yet to give more than the vaguest hints about its future fighter replacement plans as the Defense Ministry struggles with a rising tide of costs and difficulties with the troubled stealth fighter program.

Systems specialist Thales has entered talks with armored vehicle builders Nexter and Renault Trucks Defense as the three French companies seek to make a joint offer to build a new multirole combat vehicle and light tank that could be worth about €4 billion (US $5.5 billion), industry executives said.

Elbit Systems says it is delivering its new Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle to three foreign countries, as well as the Israeli military, underlining how the Jewish state’s defense industry has become one of the world’s top exporters of drones.

French arms exports last year rose to almost €6.3 billion (US $8.6 billion), or 30 percent up from €4.8 billion in 2012, helped by sales to the Middle East, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Jan. 30.

With general elections expected before May, corruption scandals over high-profile defense deals, and a deflated rupee, Defense Minister A.K. Antony, who has cultivated an image of integrity, has taken a go-slow approach on vitally needed equipment projects.

Defense companies — waging an uphill battle to drive up revenues and increase order flows — must plan for the possibility of several more years of low spending by western governments, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Viewpoint:

In the next few months, the Pentagon plans to conduct a test of its troubled long-range missile defense system. If this test is successful, the Defense Department says it will expand the system on the West Coast by 50 percent to counter missiles from North Korea. Yet last week, for the first time, the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester suggested that in light of recent setbacks, a key part of the system should be redesigned to make it “robust against failure.”

Local military discounts

News: Carter: Military leaders could arm more troops at home – Following the recent fatal shooting of four Marines and a sailor in Tennessee, Defense Secretary Ash Carter is ordering the military services to consider new policies that would enhance security for troops at home, including potentially arming more personnel. Business: DOD weighs supplier base,...

U.S. delivering eight newer F-16 warplanes to Egypt The United States Embassy in Cairo says the U.S. is delivering eight newer F-16 warplanes to Egypt as part of an ongoing military support package. It says in a July 30 statement that the aircraft, of the current Block 52 production variant, will be flown in from...

News: Lockheed F-35s reliability found wanting in shipboard testing – The Marine Corps’ version of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter demonstrated poor reliability in a 12-day exercise at sea, according to the U.S. military’s top testing officer. Business: Rockwell Collins to upgrade Boeing comms system – Rockwell Collins will upgrade the low-frequency transmi...

News: U.S.-Turkey deal aims to create de facto ‘safe zone’ in northwest Syria – Turkey and the United States have agreed on the outlines of a de facto “safe zone” along the Turkey-Syria border under the terms of a deal that is expected to significantly increase the scope and pace of the U.S.-led air war against...

News: Turkey bombs Islamic State targets in Syria – Turkish planes have for the first time carried out air strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria. Turkey to allow airstrikes against ISIS from Incirlik – Turkey will allow the U.S. to strike Islamic State group targets from Incirlik Air Base, according to multiple reports....

Officials: Progress made cleaning up massive jet fuel spill State and federal officials are becoming increasingly confident they’ll be able to clean up a massive plume of jet fuel at the edge of Albuquerque, N.M., before it reaches drinking water wells. Kirtland Air Force Base and state environment officials will be updating the public on...

Information

Publisher

Aerotech News and Review is published every Friday serving the aerospace and defense industry of Southern California, Nevada and Arizona. News and ad copy deadline is noon on the Tuesday prior to publication. The publisher assumes no responsibility for error in ads other than space used.

Disclaimer

The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, or Aerotech News and Review, Inc., of the products or services advertised.